This invention relates to an improved article of manufacture and the method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly to a combination sheet pad that may be used as a note pad or the like.
Sheet pads for making notes are known to the practitioner in the art that are square, rectangular, or variously shaped in cross-section and consist of a variety of sheets stacked one on top of the other forming a selected shape. The sheets are held together in the pad, for example, by gluing their rear edges in the pad and bonding the edges together. The result is that one or more sheets are removable from the pad by tearing the sheet away from the bonding.
A different type of sheet pad includes a pad of sheets having a coating applied to each sheet layer on its rear side with a strip of releasable pressure-sensitive adhesive usually placed parallel to the edge of the sheet. This is known in the art as an attachment strip or a ribbon of adhesive. The sheet is removable from the pad by pulling off a sheet from the sheets lying thereunder in the pad. The sheet or sheets then detachably stick onto another surface such as a desktop, computer monitor, or bulletin board. This type of sheet pad comprises individual sheets each containing a pressure-sensitive adhesive and each sheet may also further comprise a release coating provided on its upper side. The release coating acts as a release aid for the adhesive on the previous sheet""s underside.
Heretofore the consumer of note pads was faced with the choice of which type of sheet pad to use, the type that contains self-adhesive pressure sensitive adhesive allowing it to stick to surfaces or the type that merely comprises sheets of paper joined together and do not use adhesive. In order to avoid the choice of which type of sheet pad to use, the consumer could opt to have both types of pads available. However, the consumer is then faced with multiple pads taking up additional space on a sometimes already cluttered desktop.
There is a need for a combination pad of sheets that consists of releasable bound sheets that includes both sheets with attachment strips and sheets without attachment strips. Additionally, the advertising industry long ago discovered sheet pads as a preferred medium of advertising by including an advertising imprint close to the front edge of the sheet or along the pad edge. What is further needed is a combination sheet pad that provides printed advertisements that creatively utilize the symmetrical nature of the combination pad.
It is an aspect of this invention to provide a sheet pad that combines releasable bonded sheets, a portion of those sheets having attachment strips.
It is another aspect of this invention to provide a combination sheet pad that provides for printed matter to be displayed in various orientations.
To accomplish these and other aspects of the invention an article of manufacture includes a first pad of sheets with a plurality of layers where the first pad of sheets perimeter is defined by a first edge, a second edge, a third edge and a fourth edge. The article of manufacture further includes a second pad of sheets with a plurality of layers where the second pad of sheets perimeter is defined by a fifth edge, a sixth edge, a seventh edge and an eighth edge. The first and second pad of sheets are attached at the first edge of the first pad of sheets and at the fifth edge of the second pad of sheets by a hinge structure. The hinge structure allows the first pad of sheets and second pad of sheets to rotate about an axis. The second pad of sheets are releasably bonded together at a position on the bottom side of each layer of the second pad of sheets. The remaining portion of the bottom side of each layer of the second pad of sheets is free of the second adhesive.